The Zoo goes Boo!

Rich and I took Rachel to the Zoo Boo at our local zoo and we met up with all our friends from our play group. It was so much fun to see all of Rachel's little friends in their costumes! Aidan was an elephant, Caimon was a kitty cat, and Rachel and Carolyn were ladybugs. Rachel really enjoyed the trick-or-treating at the zoo while looking at all of the animals. Plus getting to go in the petting zoo area was pretty neat, even though Rachel thought that all the animals were "dogggies"! And we could not have asked for more perfect weather! It was a fabulous morning adventure and we truly had a blast!!!

Play Date with Brayden

Rachel's friend Brayden came over for a play date and the two of them had a good time playing with Rachel's little ride-on truck, balls and other toys. It's kind of funny because they are now getting to the age where sometimes they don't want to share their toys - so a couple little fights broke out! It's truly comical to watch and Brayden's Mommy (Nicki) and I had a few good laughs!!! Despite that, Brayden allowed Rachel to push him on the truck and they really enjoyed themselves. We're lucky to have such wonderful friends!

Play World

We went to Play World with our play group last Friday. We had a lot of fun playing in the balls and bouncing on the inflatable trampoline. That day we were down by two, Christi and Aidan were missing because Christi was away in Las Vegas for business. (I'm sure Vegas was much more fun for her than Play World... ) But the kids really enjoyed themselves and Rachel loved bouncing on the inflatable with her friends!

Rachel Cheers Her Teams On!

Go Patroits and go Red Sox!!!

Rachel was sporting some of her favorite team's ball caps. = )

At the Park

Rachel and I had a fun day visiting with our friend Chelsea. She is in the vet program at MSU and she is a really sweet, uplifting friend of ours - just like her mom! She came down from Lansing to spend a Sunday with us and one of the highlights of Rachel's day was going to play at the park.

Visiting Friends

We went to visit my friend Jenny and her two kids, Nathan and Lainey. Here are some pictures of our fun time with them. Rachel really liked meeting baby Lainey and playing around with Nathan. She also loved their doggies. Her favorite is pictured below.

A Day at the Gardens

I'm playing a bit of catch up because these pictures were taken the first weekend in October at the Frederick Meijer Gardens. We went there with our play group and the kids had a ton of fun playing there. The weather was unseasonably warm, as you can see they are dressed in shorts and t-shirts. Rachel really got a kick out of running away from me - kind of her way of playing hide and seek! It's amazing to watch her doing all these fun activities... I can hardly believe that my little girl is no longer a baby. I watch her toddle around and remember that it wasn't long ago that she was just learning to sit up by herself. Look how much she's learned and how big she has gotten!

Here the little ones enjoy a little "tea party" of their own!

Aren't they such cute little friends?

Our Trip to OBX

Our vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina was terrific! It was really wonderful to see all of Rich's family again. But the highlight of the whole trip was seeing Christina get married!!! (See the post below for all the great wedding pics.) We had so much fun! Here are some random shots from our vacation...

Our little family of three!
Rachel took a seat on the nag's back, in the city of Nags Head.

Swimming with Daddy!




Walking on the beach.



Playing in the sand - what fun she had!

Rachel with Grandpa and Grandma in front of Fat Boyz icecream shop!

Yum... here comes ice cream!

We made friends with the Sipos family - Ted, Tammy and Kiersten. They stayed with us while in town for the wedding. They live in Alaska and are really sweet people. Ted was Alan's bestman and we can see why - he is a wonderful guy! Here, Rachel and Kiersten are playing before bedtime. They quickly became buddies - just like their parents!

Aunt Cathy holds Rachel at dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa smile for the camera with Rachel.

All of us say cheese before eating dinner at the restraunt, Tale of the Whale!

The Provost/Thompson Wedding

It was a perfect day for a wedding on September 15th! Rich's little sister Christina got married to a wonderful man, Alan, who the entire family adores. And we were honored to be standing up in the wedding for them as they became man and wife. I think we all cried - the ceremony was beautiful and the bride was breathtaking!!! We don't have any ceremony shots because we were both in the wedding, but below are some beautiful photos that captured the day. Congratulations to Christina and Alan as they begin a long, happy marriage!!!

Here's Christina getting ready for the wedding! About to go down the isle...

Christina and I pose for a pre-wedding shot

Rich and I on the beach - after the wedding.

Christina and our niece Ashley, who was a perfect little flower girl!

Dick and Alina - the proud parents of the bride!

Christina on the beach - her gown was fabulous and looked like it was made just for her!

Introducing... Mr. and Mrs. Alan Thompson!!!



The perfect pair give eachother a smooch! Aah- true love!!!

The happy bride and groom!

Here are all the "little" cousins on the couch at the reception. Aren't they too cute? From left to right - Nicholas, Aidan, Quinn, Rachel and Ashley! They all seemed to enjoy the festivities, too!